Background
The global NASA/Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) soil moisture product, a Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) solution, will provide a well-calibrated and validated soil moisture product with 200-meter resolution globally (approximately 500-m for the Sahara due to challenges of measuring soil moisture in dry sand). There will be a minimum of two products every 12 days from both ascending and descending orbits, with more frequent observations at higher latitudes as the orbits begin to converge closer to the poles.
Status: Coming Soon
Product formulation began in fiscal year (FY) 2020 to align with the NISAR launch. The final algorithms were reviewed in fall 2022, and the products will be operational after NISAR launches in summer 2025. There are funds to support product calibration and validation for the first year of the NISAR mission.
Solution Characteristics
| Platform | NISAR |
|---|---|
| Instrument | 24 cm wavelength L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (L-SAR) |
| Processing Level | 3 (variables mapped on uniform space-time grid scales, with some completeness and consistency) |
| Temporal Coverage | Based on NISAR availability |
| Temporal Frequency | 6-12 days |
| Latency | 72 hours |
| Spatial Coverage | Near-global (outside of regions with permanent ice) |
| Spatial Resolution | 200 m (500 m for the Sahara Desert) |
| Data Format | HDF5 |
Societal Impact
Near-global maps of soil moisture are of high relevance for a range of agencies and applications, including many hydrological, biological, and biogeochemical processes. Soil moisture data is required for estimation of crop yields, crop hazard alerts due to drought and flood, forecasting of food demands, forest fire prediction, water supply management, and other natural resource activities.
Solution Resources
Interested in learning more about this solution? For more information, see the Global NISAR Soil Moisture: SNWG Solution Fact Sheet and visit the NISAR website hosted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.